Not much. After the mysterious and hard to remember ending of the Mechna mission, six months have passed, as the Heroes take time to recuperate and rebuild the Hero Factory.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

There are three “main” character types:

Heroes: Heroes are the default force of good across the galaxy, based in Makuhero City. They can travel to any location they wish via Hero Pod or Dropship, and each Hero is outfitted with a unique set of equipment and abilities. All Heroes (unless specifically noted) have a feed from their optical and audio sensors to Mission Control – this allows Zib to provide guidance, and track their locations (and allows Heroes to contact Mission Control for help).

Villains: Villains are criminals, wanted across the galaxy for everything from common theft to violence to being world-dominating threats. Villains often wield a variety of powers and weapons; how mobile they are is up to the individual villain and their wiles.

Civilians: Civilians make up just about everyone else. They do not typically have access to any powers or special equipment, though they do have access to what might be the best weapon of all – information. Mission Control has access to the Hero Factory’s extensive database, call center operators are the front lines on knowing what’s up, and the media has the power to influence thousands; but that is not all you can be….

Character Profile

Name: [Character Name Here]

Character Type: [Hero/Villain/Civilian]

Abilities/Equipment: [Please stick to one/two main powers and one/two minor abilities, and keep it simple – a character might fly and shoot fire (main powers), but also be designed for speed and endurance (minor abilities). Other weapons or equipment of note should be reasonable; a bunch of small throwing knives or dual swords is good, two giant warhammers would be bad.]

Appearance: [MOC, picture, or written description of the character will suffice.]

Bio: [Who is your character? What is their personal history and background? What are they like to be around? Do they have any hobbies or interests? If they’re a Hero, what missions have they been on? If they’re a Civilian, what is their job like? If they’re a Villain, what sort of crimes are they responsible for?]

SHIPS

1-All approved characters are allowed their own ships.

2-Ships can be posted alongside their crew, but cannot be approved without a pilot.

3-Large ships require three approved characters and two players to be involved.

Ship Profile

Name: [Name of the Ship]

Ship Size: [Small (size of a Hero Dropship, suitable for 1-5 passengers, small weaponry), Medium (suitable for up to 10 passengers, can have a few large weapons such as a cannon, or space for hauling cargo), or Large (See Nato’s The New Dawn)]

Pilots/PCs: [Who is onboard the ship? For any vehicle larger than Medium, you must have at least three PCs onboard controlled by at least two players.]

NPCs: [Small ships cannot have Civilian NPCs; Medium ships are allowed one or two. Large ships can hold up to fifty. Please specify what each NPC does on the ship; do they manage weapons? Engines?]

Communications: [Who can your ship communicate with?]

Navigation & Drive: [What sort of navigational information is available? How is the ship piloted? Are there multiple battle stations? Any special considerations?]

Weapons & Armor: [What weapons does the ship have? Does it have thick armor plating, cloaking devices, or energy shields? Note that indestructible ships will not be tolerated.]

Propulsion: [How fast and agile is this vessel? How does it move?]

Landing: [Can your ship land on a planet or asteroid safely? Most Small and Medium ships will be able to, though for Large ships it might be questionable.]

PLAYER MISSIONS

Create your own missions for the Hero Factory, and get them approved with this helpful form!

Mission Profile

Mission Title: [Pretty straightforward, what is your mission going to be called? (This could be integrated into a banner, if you feel the need to create one for the mission).]

Locations: [Where will this mission take place? Provide as much description as you possibly can, in order to fully flesh out the location/s. (These can be canon locations, or your own).]

Canon NPCs: [List here any canon characters you require total or partial control of for the mission, or add full profiles if need be. (Please note, if you wish to keep the identities of some of these characters a secret from players, please indicate so here).]

Original NPCs: [Attach or link the profiles for any characters of your own creation who you feel the need to use for this mission. (As above, these need not be revealed to the player base at the start of the mission, but we GMs will require them for reference).]

Description: [Brief description of the mission – what’s happened already, why Hero Factory has been called in, etc. (this briefing will be what goes in the topic).]

Full Overview: [Full outline of what you plan to do for the mission. Obviously you won’t be able to predict exactly how players approach certain issues, but do your best to give us a rough idea of what you have planned (this is for GM reference only, and will not be added to the topic).]

Objectives: [(optional). If your mission is going to include objectives, list them here.]

I'll get on this properly tomorrow in regards to character profiles, but for now I'm taking the chance to post something I've been keen to show off for ages: a Rotor backstory. This is based off a fanfiction I'm currently writing, and I'd sent it to the two other Rotor-clone owners (Pyrolizard and Onaku) for approval ages ago to make sure it was cool with the people the background would affect.

Under a spoiler tag because it's kinda long.

Spoiler

The planet of Capone I is a place of chilling ambiguity. Having declined to allow the Hero Factory permission to operate upon their planet, little is known about the infrastructure of the government and society upon the planet’s crust. Investigations that at first point to Capone I suddenly wind up cold, and without reason to investigate, the case must be left as it is- unsolved. The planet’s secrecy and shady affairs hide an underworld far darker than that which the Hero Factory could ever imagine.

The planet is populated largely by organics in tall, gleaming spires. Poorer families live in the lower levels, working mundanities the lowest working class on the planet cannot be trusted with. The elite live in the heights of the towers, looking down on the bridges between buildings and the sickly earth below. The planet’s governing body comes in the form of a mafia-like, known only as The Collective. Their many-conjoined spires, extending far beyond the layers of thick smog and deep below the stained, hardened earth, is one of the most feared landmarks of the planet.

Apart from the Collective’s dirty dealings in the criminal underworld, there are other injustices upon the planet. In some of the few buildings not built as skyscrapers, robots are churned out to serve their organic masters. These robots are coded with sentience, if only to see to it that they can think and adapt without much fuss on the organics’ end, and share a very obvious trait: all of these Capone robots can fly, with long propeller blades.

On Capone I, flying is seen not as a freedom, but as an imprisonment. Flying within ships is deemed acceptable, but flying under one’s own power is seen as below them, akin to marking one’s self as an animal that must be kept outside. Each robot is programmed with an inherent urge to fly, and to ignore this urge brings catastrophic results upon the robot over time. Robots that are not modelled as indoor servants are forbidden from entering buildings, and Capone buildings are made with short, narrow windows and doors to enforce this rule. The robots recharge in tall towers with chargers clustered at the top, known as Roosts; hidden from the organics who do not wish to see their slaves unless necessary. Their blades are not made to fold down, to further restrict their movement.

All robots live in fear of the Collective. They, for the most part, do their jobs efficiently and with no complaint, for the tales of what goes on in the Spires seem endless. In the Roosts, whispered stories of disobedient robots being locked in cramped boxes, unable to fly or move for weeks on end, or of having their rebellious minds wiped completely to be replaced with a new brain, are exchanged through the hiss of the wind and the creak of their meagre shelters under their feet.

For some time, Capone I lived in a diabolical, twisted peace, just like this. However, in an unprecedented uprising of the machines, the Collective itself was attacked- lives were lost, and in return, the Collective placed significant resources into finding these errant slaves and having them brought to the Spires. However, despite this, some few robots managed to elude their grasp and escape the planet- these include Rotor, a construction-bot with strength enough to carry girders with ease and blades with control and precision to allow seamless welding even in high winds, and Arsenal, a security model with exceptional skill with weaponry- to a degree almost beyond what is standard for its model- who apparently learned to repair itself and others from observing its organic mechanics. While the Collective was hesitant to act upon these traitorous slaves, for fear of giving the Hero Factory a reason to stick their olfactory sensors where they don’t belong, news of Rotor’s and Arsenal’s escape from the Hero Factory prison has left them confident enough that collecting these two rogues without attracting the attention of Hero Factory was a possible task. They sent out a single agent, another slave, a newer model designed specifically for this task- one they thought they would never need. Loyalty and servitude is ingrained so deeply into its code that no amount of pleading or begging for mercy for its fellow ‘bot will persuade it from its task.

There is another, riskier prize for the Collective. Some interesting news about a Hero designed after Rotor had surfaced, and if the rumours about the Hero are true, that would mean the Hero is holding Capone code in its electric brain. This, in turn, meant that essentially, the Hero was stolen property that would have to be returned to Capone I, lest the Heroes investigate too deeply into the automaton’s coding…

If there are any questions or issues with this, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm hoping to make a mission out of this, so if people want details about the lore before resigning to their fate of a Zippy Mission, then I'm very happy to oblige.

Oh, and because I saw Onaku mentioned it: I'm also interested in co-GMing. I even have a jacket and everything.

Name: Robert ShadePowers and Abilities:Shade is equipped with a high energy drain chameleon unit that renders him virtually invisible. He combines this with his sound dampening generator for minimum sight and sound disruptions while he’s in the field.Weapons:Shade makes use of two foldable raw quaza-embedded arm-blades that are linked directly to his battery. They can sear their way through most materials and are capable of short ranged quaza blasts. Shade has the choice to turn the blades’ quaza link on or off depending on how low his battery is running. Turning the quaza off saves the hero on energy, but causes the blades to lose their palpable cutting capability.Bio:Shade was made as an assassin model for high priority targets that are too dangerous for a prison cell or the attempt of capturing. His high energy cost weapons and tools cause him to have very poor energy efficiency and when running at maximum he usually has to recharge every few hours.

Personality: Shade doesn't like surprises which is why he is constantly thinking of every possible situation that could confront him on a job. He prefers working alone and while he likes the company that a team lends him, he doesn't know how to work as or with a team (he is the “I” in team). He has a condition common amongst assassins that causes him to have an unsanctioned thirst for knowledge. He is always looking for a way into top-secret places and files that he has no place in. Assassins with this condition are often kept in stasis once caught.Appearance:He has a dark purple core and head. The top of his head is white while the rest of him is black encased in pearl dark-gray armor (also known as titanium gray). Height: 6.7 ft. Weight: 480 lbs.

MOC Picture:

Location: Makuhero City

Robert Shade makes a star appearance in Rylinth Anderfel’s A True Hero (Rylinth wants me to say that it’s not particularly good, but that’s just his opinion).

SHIP PROFILE: The Scalpel

Ship Size:The Scalpel is a one-man light carrier shuttle that Shade uses to transport himself to his assassination targets. It is shaped like a sleek silver arrow head with thrusters on the back, wings on the sides, and a small fin on the top. A recharge station is installed where a copilot’s seat would normally be. There is a small area in the back large enough to hold a land speeder when needed. If the speeder is not needed, the space is left open in case Shade needs to bring the body of the deceased mark back to Hero Factory. This area is large enough to hold two 2.0 models if they don’t mind laying down on top of each other in cramped positions.

Land Speeder: The land speeder is just big enough to hold a 2.0 model with a maximum weight limit of 600 lbs. The speeder has almost no armor to speak of (just some light plating over the engine and other major parts) and can reach a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour. There is a small detachable container on the back held on by magnetic systems. The container is 2 ft3 and is impervious to the most common means of detection allowing sensitive items to be carried unnoticed.

Pilots: Shade rides along in the pilot seat, but he relies completely on Silke. Silke is Shade’s personalized ship AI that operates all functions of the ship.

Communications Systems: The Scalpel has open network channels to receive and transmit to and from Hero Factory’s Assassin Division. This means that the only ones capable of communicating with the ship are those who either find the ship’s frequency code on accident, those who have a high enough clearance and are part of the AD project, or those who are given access to the AD’s line of communication specifically.

Navigation and Drive: The star charts and navigation systems are state of the art when it comes to the Scalpel. Every known Star and Planet system is mapped and stored in order for Silke to make the best decisions regarding flight path and ship-to-destination trajectory. The ship was built and personalized for Shade and can track him and fly to him as long as they are in the same system. Shade can communicate with Silke on a private communication line.

Weapons Systems/Armor: The ship is designed with a proto-type cloaking device more powerful than most chameleon fields in existence. The field is designed to protect against heat vision or similar heat detection devices, radar, sonar, x-ray, magnetic, and infra-red rays. Even if another ship knew or suspected that the Scalpel was in the area and used the cunning method of scanning the surrounding air’s molecules and atoms (this wouldn’t work in space) to detect the ship sized “bubble” of nothing, the Scalpel would simulate the chemical makeup of the air around it and forgo detection. The armor is light as the ship is designed for stealth, not for combat. The only weapon is a swivel turret on a track that allows the turret to travel from the top of the ship to the bottom and adjoining sides. The turret is a high caliber precision-beam model that excels at exploiting weaknesses in another ship. The beam can only be kept up for 4 seconds before having to cool down for 14 seconds.

Propulsion/Travel Systems: Built for speed and maneuverability, the Scalpel has 4 hyper-boosters on the back and one attached to each wing. The wings and fin have gaps in the middle to allow the swivel turret to roll around on the track and down the sides without interference. For intergalactic travel, the ship is equipped with a powerful wormhole drive. In order to work the drive, Silke has to focus all of the ship's energy into using it, which consequently means that the turret, chameleon field, and boosters are un-powered while she opens the wormhole. It usually takes 4 minutes of feeding constant power to the drive before a wormhole is complete.

Land vs. Dock (Atmospheric): The wings fold up upon landing, allowing the ship to land in any hangar. It can land in a hangar with a low ceiling as long as there’s room to dock with the wings in flight gear. The ship is capable of landing in water without fear of harm as long as there’s no breach in the hull and the doors remain closed. This came in handy when Shade had to lose a tail over a water world long enough for Silke to tell him how to repair the damaged chameleon field generator.

Location: It is currently docked in AD's private underwater hangar bay.

I think five would be the ideal number, if we're still going with the group of co-GMs. It's a nice round number, enough that stuff can still get done even if one or two of them were sick/busy, but not so many that they'd get bogged down in endless discussion.

I agree with Nato's statement about the game only needing five, though to be fair, the first five to have actually volunteered should probably be considered before anyone else.

To my knowledge, that list currently consists of:

Myself

Vestak

Rylinth Anderfel

ZippyWharrgarbl

FallenCor

And the Runner-Ups are currently;

The Amaztastical Lynn

Toa Onaku

The Old Master (in the event that he changed his mind)

So the way I see it, we can go about this in one of two ways; either we stick with the first five unless someone drops out (where the first runner-up on the list will replace them), or we just hold an election of sorts between all seven/eight candidates, and the top five get the positions.

As far as my profiles are concerned, I'll be witholding them until this all gets sorted out.

Uh, Timeageness, this isn't exactly a first-come, first-serve arrangement, as I understand it- I'm not going to check your order is right because that's a moot point. Besides, you also said that you didn't want to play as NPCs, something that would be required for a co-GM. I honestly thought you were just going for submitting missions, and maybe running some.

The original list was kind of based on people who had a history of helping critique characters in productive ways- such as the case with Nato, since he might be a bit harsh sometimes but he's typically got a point- or are typically known for their fair approach to situations, and have demonstrated as such in the topic- as is the case with Onaku, Rylinth, Scorp, and Cor. I'm considered because I am the Lore Lord.

So it's nothing personal on anyone's end, it's just that those people have demonstrated a pretty good handle on what co-GMing is all about, or like me have memorised most of the canon. Some people who have volunteered may have these qualities, but haven't demonstrated them in-topic yet.

Voting in a poll seems the fairest answer, but some part of me worries this will go less into "who is the best choice" and more into "who has the most friends", which can really throw results. And some people don't like to vote publicly, but that's also a pretty solid answer, so...

I'd like to point out that I only said I would be co-GM if no one else was available, as I did not want this game to die.
And now, profiles. I changed Morphos's slightly to make him a little more powerful and no longer silver all the time. Should we wait until the GMs are decided to approve it or just do it now as a group?

Name: Night Stalker

Affiliation: Villain

Appearance: Black armor with hints of red, 1.5 times the height of a hero. His helmet resembles the Fire Lord's, but without the flames.

Weapons: Force Hammer - A large war hammer that amplifies the force of its impact. Tri-Blaster - This blaster is built around Night Stalker's left arm, yet he still has a left hand. The Tri-Blaster can fire standard forms of ammunition, but Night Stalker most often loads it with capsules filled with a mildly corrosive gas. His armor has been modified to be almost completely resistant to the gas, but long enough exposure will damage even him.

Abilities: Night Stalker has radar built into his helmet, and while it warns him of approaching objects it also functions as normal radar, able to give him basic shapes and surroundings at close distances. It's reliability drops after fifty feet.. His armor also has a chameleon function. He can change color at will, or set it to automatic, although auto is considerably less effective. He is very strong, which makes his hammer even more dangerous. However, due to his size and weight, he is bad at dodging and has poor movement speed, instead counting on his armor and strength to get him out of most situations.

Personality: Night Stalker is ambitious and intelligent. He will do whatever he can to get to the top, but will not directly attack anyone in his way unless he knows he can get away with it completely, without even the slightest trace that he was involved.

Status: Currently in prison

Name: Morphos

Alias: Mr. Neo Anderson

Affiliation: Villains

Occupation: Mercenary/Bounty Hunter

Appearance: Whatever he wants, though he usually appears as an inconspicuous, average, civilian. Usually the same height as a Hero.

Powers: Morphos is a very unique robot. He has almost no solid armor, just a bit of basic plating. Instead his armor is composed of a magnetic liquid metal held in place by a magnetic field. This metal has the unique property of turning solid on impact. This by no means makes him invulnerable, as while it is solid the metal takes damage just like any other metal. However, once it turns liquid again Morphos can easily smooth over the dents and cracks. Morphos can control the magnetic field to give himself different appearances or to group more armor in one place. This process can take anywhere from mere seconds to a minute, depending on how well he knows the former he is taking, if he has a picture or other visual model, or if he is making it up on the spot. Obviously, the higher the complexity the more time it will take. The only place not covered by this liquid metal are his hands and feet.

He can form spikes or weapons out of his liquid metal, but the magnetic field, while very strong and manipulable, is not strong enough to hold it’s shape enough to pierce much more than civilian plating.

His limbs also telescope, no more than five inches though. He has the ability to change color between metallic green, silver, and gunmetal. Changing into one solid color takes only a second, but any highlights or details drastically increase the time.

Weapons: Morphos carries many weapons underneath or suspended in his liquid metal skin. He carries an energy sword, two pistols, one for solid bullets and one for energy blasts, along with plenty of ammo for both. He carries multiple explosives of varying power in his skin. His final weapon is a small rocket launcher, built into his chest. There is only enough room for one rocket, and in order to fire it he must create an opening in his skin.

Personality: Morphos is a cold, calculating robot. He was designed and programmed to kill, and to do it well. He can act normal if he needs to, but since he doesn’t enjoy doing that he usually only does when he needs to, or when he’s under cover. He’s much better at being what he was programmed to be.

Status: On Mechna with a brand new pocket watch from his ordeals in the recent past.

Name:Ruby

Powers and Abilities:Ruby’s motors have the ability to operate at a much faster speed than normal. This allows her to perform at nearly twice the normal speed. However, this drains power more quickly, so she uses this ability sparingly. Ruby’s boots also contain magnets, allowing her to run along any strongly magnetic surface. However, she tends to stay away from ceilings. Any fast movement on them results in very little contact between the metal surface and the magnets in her boots, which wouldn’t be enough to support her.

Weapon:Ruby carries a sniper scythe, the most perfect weapon in the universe (according to her). As it’s name implies, it is a combination of an energy scythe and a high power, anti personnel sniper rifle. The blade of the sniper scythe is made of crimson energy, and it shoots powerful energy blasts of the same color. The weapon itself is made of black metal with hints of red to match the blade.

Appearance:Ruby is an average hero, wearing mostly red armor with hints of black. Her core and eyes are silver.Bio: Ruby is a fairly new hero, a bit naive and shy. She is not very outgoing and has trouble making friends. Instead of being out making friends, Ruby has spent that time practicing with her sniper scythe, which accounts for the level of skill she has despite not being active long. In a fight however, she changes from a young, shy hero to a dangerous combatant, highly skilled and capable.

Status: Ruby is currently rooming with _______ in Makuhero city while the Factory is rebuilt.

I never said that it was - just that the people who volunteered first should be considered first. Whether or not they belong in the position would obviously still be up for debate. But apparently, since it's already been decided, then I guess it is a moot point.

As for not wanting to play NPCs, I'm affraid you're misquoting me; what I actually expressed disinterest in was playing as NPCs outside of my own creation, not NPCs in general. Not that it matters anymore, but whatever. I'll just go find something else to do with my free time.

I never said that it was - just that the people who volunteered first should be considered first. Whether or not they belong in the position would obviously still be up for debate. But apparently, since it's already been decided, then I guess it is a moot point.
As for not wanting to play NPCs, I'm affraid you're misquoting me; what I actually expressed disinterest in was playing as NPCs outside of my own creation, not NPCs in general. Not that it matters anymore, but whatever. I'll just go find something else to do with my free time.

The co-GMs haven't been decided yet, no. I was just saying that it shouldn't depend on whether you were online around the time we got the news that we'd need co-GMs. We're considering everyone equally, as I understand it, and that's tricky business.

The not playing NPCs that you haven't made is still an issue, since co-GMs will, as I understand it, be expected to play as canon characters quite often. Think about how many canon characters the last GM played- she was all of them! Now naturally, with more GMs, you'd have to play as less, but you'd still likely have to play as some, at least from time to time. If you feel you can play canon characters in a way that's true to their in-story characterisation, then that's great! And if you or anyone else feel like you can give a pretty decent judge of other characters that are sent in for approval, or look over mission ideas for inconsistencies, errors, or places that won't play well, then that's also great! But if you're just in it to run missions, then maybe co-GMing isn't what you're gunning for- and that's fine! It's not for everyone, and there's no problem with that. The co-GMs, as I understand it, are going to want people making their own missions, filling in blanks so everyone always has something to do and players to play those missions. I mean, if I'm not wanted as a co-GM, then that's what I'm probably going to do. It helps give the universe a bigger, more expansive feel to it.

And I'm sad to see you going, but I hope you have fun elsewhere! If you want to stay/come back as a mission maker, or stick around and enter the running for co-GM (once we sort out how we're going to decide them), then I'm sure we'll be glad to see you stay.

Now, just in case anyone else is confused: no, co-GMs have not been decided yet. What I said, I admit, sounded very presumptuous, but no, I nor anyone else is a co-GM in any official means yet. As I mentioned at the end, it's going to be tricky to sort out who's best suited for the roles, but we'll sort it out! A public vote, where you post your top five, might be an option, but I know some people won't want to have their votes seen. But I don't want people excluded in a private vote because they don't have as many friends to gather up for a poll as other people do! If anyone has any other suggestions, then they're very welcome.

The issue I'm having honestly has nothing to do with whether or not the Co-GMs have been decided or not; it's because of how the game in its entirety continues to fail me as a player no matter how much time I decide to invest in it.

For those who don't keep tabs, I've been around since Page 7 of the original topic, way back when HF RPG 2.0 was started in September 2015. I took the time to read up on all the pages that came before, and I've checked in here almost every day since then, occasionally multiple times a day. I've been here through the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, and the utterly ridiculous. I've struggled to maintain my level of interest, I've powered through periods of writer's block, and I've fought to have characters approved, simply because at the end of the day, I felt that this was worth spending my time on.

And what do I have to show for it, you may ask? Diddly. Freaking. Squat.

My characters get little to no interaction, the story passes me by almost on a daily basis when it hasn't halted completely, it does practically nothing to make me really care about what's going on anymore, and overall, it's become more of a chore to simply stick around than it should be. So yeah, when the discussion about electing a few Co-GMs to take over for Fishers got started, I figured I'd throw my hat in the ring, mostly because if my own experience was any indication, then I at least owed it to myself to try to get those issues fixed before anyone else here started to feel the same way. I've been on the other side of the screen once before, I've molded what started out as the barest of outlines into fully realised characters, and as short as my time was, I've managed to keep a few plots going before the last RPG I was that involved in eventually closed, so doing the same here shouldn't have proved too difficult. But just like everything else I try to do, I slam headfirst into a wall that I just can't seem to find my way around, and to be quite frank, what started out as simple frustration is quickly turning into disgust.

I still love this game and almost everything else about it, but at this point, it's starting to seem like that's just another part of the problem. To me, this feels like I'm trapped in an abusive relationship where my gut's telling me one thing, and my brain another. So unless any of you have a solution to this that I'm simply not seeing, I have no other option but to establish some distance, whether it be temporary or permanent. I don't want to leave now that things are just about to pick back up again, but unfortunately, I just feel like I need to, and that's just how things are.

As such, I withdraw my offer to Co-GM, and make no effort to resubmit my characters for approval. Hopefully, things will get better and I'll be able to return at some point, but as they are right now, I'm not holding out much hope.

I don't know what to tell you, man. I don't mean to make it sound like you haven't been putting effort into your posts, but if you were truly struggling with character interactions, you could have easily contacted any one of us and tried to set something up. I believe most of us would have been more than happy to help.

Aside from that and the issue of disapproved characters, I don't recall you having voiced any other complaints about the game in the past (though I could be wrong). I also fail to see what either of these has to do with choosing the new GMs.

...

We should probably try to figure out how we're going vote, then. Do we just list the five we want to see on the council, or pick our top three? Do we post our votes here, or find someplace else where we can do so anonymously?

Well, if we're really lacking ideas on how to vote, whether it be three or five or however many Co-GMs each player is allowed to vote for, I think we could probably all send pms to Nato and he could tally up the votes and post the vote totals for each player in a single post. That way, everything's anonymous (except for Nato knowing who voted for who of course). The only potential problem I can see with voting (it's a minor one at the most), is whether or not Co-GM-want-to-bes can vote for themselves.

Well, I can't speak for anyone else and you may be right, but the reason I suggested you is because, whether your name is up for consideration or not, I wholeheartedly trust you to maintain your integrity and not change the votes. If you really don't want to be in that position though, I won't argue.

Suggestion: everyone put all votes into me so I may have an excuse to clone myself and generate this poorly drawn mspaint future

In all seriousness, though, the PM in idea sounds really good. Though I'd suggest that to prevent my dystopian future illustrated above from occurring, we say you can't vote for people more than once. So if I were to send in three votes for me, that'd only count as one and my cunning plan would have failed me.

Voting for yourself sounds fine by me but if other people have an issue with it, then that's fair. Also I'm also fine with Nato being the one to collect votes, because I think we can all agree he won't try and rig it.

your frustrations are entirely valid, and i can definitely get behind the frustration at having little to no interactions.

i would point out however, that your one source of interaction(slow as it may be) you pretty much abandoned when you couldn't find a way to continue it the way -you- wanted it to go.

it may also be worth investing in characters who are more socially outgoing(draining as that can be). it's sort of hard to approach characters who are self described as unliked or hard to talk to.

If you're refering to Epix and Kaiba, the next phase of that interaction would've involved finding Mr. Makuro, and since Fishers was using him to help coordinate the Mechna mission at the time, that made him realistically unavailable. I accepted it for what it was, even though the way I was playing Epix might not have shown it from an IC standpoint, but the only way to keep things going at that point would've been to have them casually stand around and talk about the weather, which I didn't feel was within the parameters of his character. The way I see it, I didn't abandon anything; outside factors such as the change in setting and our overall bad timing were what ended up cutting that short, but if it's any consolation, I'm sorry you feel that way.

As for the second statement, Leighla didn't fit either of those molds, but again, by the time I was ready to jump back in with her, circumstances within the game had changed.

[...]

I don't know what to tell you, man. I don't mean to make it sound like you haven't been putting effort into your posts, but if you were truly struggling with character interactions, you could have easily contacted any one of us and tried to set something up. I believe most of us would have been more than happy to help.

Aside from that and the issue of disapproved characters, I don't recall you having voiced any other complaints about the game in the past (though I could be wrong). I also fail to see what either of these has to do with choosing the new GMs.

...

We should probably try to figure out how we're going vote, then. Do we just list the five we want to see on the council, or pick our top three? Do we post our votes here, or find someplace else where we can do so anonymously?

I was one of the people who originally suggested that Fishers seriously consider appointing a few Co-GMs, which is likely part of the reason why you're all now going through this current stituation in the first place, since that never ended up happening. And as you can probably already tell, talking to people isn't exactly one of my strong suits, which was why I threw myself into the RPG circuit to begin with, in the hopes of working on that. To some extent, it's been working, but it's clear to me that there's still some progress that needs to be made on that front.

As for the discussion about choosing the new GMs, it just felt like nothing was changing from an OOC standpoint despite the changing of the guard, and that was merely the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. It wasn't so much about the order or the eventual outcome of the discussion, but how the discussion itself was progressing that I took issue with, as it seemed like every time a new idea was proposed, it was immediately shot down without so much as an attempt to discuss whether or not a certain aspect of it that could've worked could feasibly be incorporated into the game at large. GM of the Month and The Doomsday Sequence were both examples of this. When I actually became serious about proposing the first, I figured that the Co-GM situation would end up resolving itself eventually, and that the system would entirely revolve around them, in addition to whatever player-run plots would've been cooked up in the future. But no, everyone aparently took it as an attempt at crowd-running, and it was scrapped in favor of an arguably similar concept. In regards to the second, it was a great idea; the only problems it had was with its execution, which, as it turns out, nobody was even willing to look past and give it a chance. When the same situation began repeating itself after we shifted gears, I already knew that things on my end were about to go nowhere, so I chose the only option I felt that I had left available, which was simply removing myself from the equation, as I was growing quite tired of it.

So before the simple clarification I momentarily returned to provide becomes any more rambling than it already has, I'm just going to cut it short and stop now so I can return to something I feel will be infinitely more productive. Best of luck to the rest of you concerning getting this thing back up on its feet, but because of the pack mentality and the general reluctance to either listen or to work with others in a reasonable fashion, as of right now, I regret to inform you that the community you all care so deeply about has lost another member, be it temporary or permanent, as previously stated. With that out of the way, I take my leave once more.

In the event that any of you still feel the need to address something I said for one reason or another, feel free to do so via PM, as this conversation is no longer conductive to the situation at hand, and I will no longer be posting responses in this topic concerning it. Otherwise, I'm out of here.

your frustrations are entirely valid, and i can definitely get behind the frustration at having little to no interactions.

i would point out however, that your one source of interaction(slow as it may be) you pretty much abandoned when you couldn't find a way to continue it the way -you- wanted it to go.

it may also be worth investing in characters who are more socially outgoing(draining as that can be). it's sort of hard to approach characters who are self described as unliked or hard to talk to.

If you're refering to Epix and Kaiba, the next phase of that interaction would've involved finding Mr. Makuro, and since Fishers was using him to help coordinate the Mechna mission at the time, that made him realistically unavailable. I accepted it for what it was, even though the way I was playing Epix might not have shown it from an IC standpoint, but the only way to keep things going at that point would've been to have them casually stand around and talk about the weather, which I didn't feel was within the parameters of his character. The way I see it, I didn't abandon anything; outside factors such as the change in setting and our overall bad timing were what ended up cutting that short, but if it's any consolation, I'm sorry you feel that way.

But did Epix and Kaiba know that IC? If they didn't, you two could have had your characters go look for him -- that would have moved things along at least a little bit until Mr. Makuro was available. If they did, well, I don't know what to tell you.

I was one of the people who originally suggested that Fishers seriously consider appointing a few Co-GMs, which is likely part of the reason why you're all now going through this current stituation in the first place, since that never ended up happening.

That decision was entirely up to Fishers, and there's nothing we could have done short of demanding she appoint a Co-GM. I assume she was confident that she could run the game on her own, and she did a pretty awesome job of it. Would it have been more prudent to, at the very least, select a player to step up should something happen? Sure. But that wasn't the hand we were dealt, so now we're making the best of it with the cards we have.

As for the discussion about choosing the new GMs, it just felt like nothing was changing from an OOC standpoint despite the changing of the guard, and that was merely the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. It wasn't so much about the order or the eventual outcome of the discussion, but how the discussion itself was progressing that I took issue with, as it seemed like every time a new idea was proposed, it was immediately shot down without so much as an attempt to discuss whether or not a certain aspect of it that could've worked could feasibly be incorporated into the game at large. GM of the Month and The Doomsday Sequence were both examples of this. When I actually became serious about proposing the first, I figured that the Co-GM situation would end up resolving itself eventually, and that the system would entirely revolve around them, in addition to whatever player-run plots would've been cooked up in the future. But no, everyone aparently took it as an attempt at crowd-running, and it was scrapped in favor of a arguably similar concept. In regards to the second, it was a great idea; the only problems it had was with its execution, which, as it turns out, nobody was even willing to look past and give it a chance. When the same situation began repeating itself after we shifted gears, I already knew that things on my end were about to go nowhere, so I chose the only option I felt that I had left available, which was simply removing myself from the equation, as I was growing quite tired of it.

For the record, there weren't that many ideas proposed in the first place. It's not like we have a whole slew of suggestions and we just zeroed in on one without talking about it. We did discuss them in the old topic. We are continuing to discuss them here. So far the process has been: someone proposes an idea, we find a flaw, someone proposes another idea, maybe it also has a flaw, but we pick the one that seems easier to deal with. To be honest, I'm amazed we're getting through this as quickly as we have. I thought we'd be at this for weeks, even months, which may very well have killed any motivation we have to bring this game back.

It also doesn't help that many players seem to be waiting on the sidelines instead of getting involved... but can anyone really blame them? Personally, I'm working to get this done as quickly as possible so that everyone will soon have a nice neat game to return to. I'm sure if anyone else has a problem with the way the people in this topic are handling things, they will let us know.*

The 'GM of the Month' thing was leaning too closely towards a crowd-run system, which many of us aren't comfortable with. Maybe it would work and maybe it wouldn't. I think everyone would simply like to play it safe and stick with a tried-and-true method while we get this game back on its feet.

And giving an RPG a time limit can produce mixed results. Everyone was fine with the laid-back, semi-sandbox nature of the old game's episodic missions. Until the destruction of the Tower, we were technically free to finish the missions at our leisure. Why change that now?

I'm sorry to see you or anyone leave, but I honestly don't know what else can be said. I wish you well on your other RPG adventures, though.

~~~

*I encourage anyone and everyone to speak up and give us their input as we figure things out! It would be a huge help to us, as we only want to organize a game that everyone will enjoy.

For the profiles, do we just pull them straight from the original topic and put them here?

Yep! The idea is start putting everyone's profiles in this topic to reduce clutter in the actual RP thread (and discuss said profiles without interrupting the flow of the RP). Tex even made a nice new template for us to use in the first post, which gives everyone an opportunity to update their characters, if they like.

Even once we decide whether to use private or public voting methods, there's still the issue of the voting deadline (when it's time to tally them all up and new votes are ignored). I think it's safe to say that many HF 2.0 RPG players still haven't caught up on the old thread or this new discussion board. It would be kind of mean if they weren't given a fair and/or reasonable chance to do so and vote along with the rest of us.

Well, what we can do is start the freeform slice of life HF RPG while we wait for votes. I know I've got no mission plans ready yet, and I'm not sure how many people are in the same boat but we probably all need a bit more time to write out missions. Additionally, we're probably not going to be fighting in this time so we can just go with pre-established characters for the time being. Then we can establish that we're starting up, and we can tally the votes when we're ready to start the first mission!

We can decide on which one will be first mission through discussion, or the newly elected GMs can have a look at all the ones that are ready and put them up for a vote.

Well, what we can do is start the freeform slice of life HF RPG while we wait for votes. I know I've got no mission plans ready yet, and I'm not sure how many people are in the same boat but we probably all need a bit more time to write out missions. Additionally, we're probably not going to be fighting in this time so we can just go with pre-established characters for the time being. Then we can establish that we're starting up, and we can tally the votes when we're ready to start the first mission!

I thought we needed our characters to be re-approved though? Was I under a mistaken impression?

EDIT: From the first post in this topic:

(if you played in the HF RPG 2.0, remember to re-post your profiles in this topic for approval!)

Well, what we can do is start the freeform slice of life HF RPG while we wait for votes. I know I've got no mission plans ready yet, and I'm not sure how many people are in the same boat but we probably all need a bit more time to write out missions. Additionally, we're probably not going to be fighting in this time so we can just go with pre-established characters for the time being. Then we can establish that we're starting up, and we can tally the votes when we're ready to start the first mission!

I thought we needed our characters to be re-approved though? Was I under a mistaken impression?

EDIT: From the first post in this topic:

(if you played in the HF RPG 2.0, remember to re-post your profiles in this topic for approval!)

Naw, you're right, we'd need to have the council thing sorted out before we continue with the RP, at least where profiles are concerned. If we do decide to start a slice-of-life RP to pass the time, we could continue to use the old profiles, on the condition that nobody add anything to their characters in the meantime.

Even once we decide whether to use private or public voting methods, there's still the issue of the voting deadline (when it's time to tally them all up and new votes are ignored). I think it's safe to say that many HF 2.0 RPG players still haven't caught up on the old thread or this new discussion board. It would be kind of mean if they weren't given a fair and/or reasonable chance to do so and vote along with the rest of us.

That's a tricky one. I'd say a week from the time the poll is posted, but we could make it longer.

I just had a thought: What if we PM a sort of newsletter to all of the players listed on the first page of the old thread? Maybe write a brief account of what's been going on, along with links to any relevant posts, and then a link to wherever the poll is posted? This way nobody will miss out, and maybe it'll pique the interest of any players who previously dropped out.

If we don't change anything on our character profiles, do they have to be re-approved? If they do, then that brings up lots of troubling questions...

Well, if you use the exact same profile from before, I don't see any reason to have to re-approve them. I can't speak for anyone else, but if said profiles were acceptable in the old game, then I think they're perfectly fine to use again.

The only time I could see re-approval coming into play would be if someone where adding something (just like in the old game), or switching to the new profile template (to make sure nobody sneaks in an extra power/weapon without explaining how it got there). I'll most likely be using the new template for all of my own characters, so I'll need to re-submit them for two reasons: one, because I've been meaning to give Jet a basic gun for a while now, and I don't want to just toss it in there without telling anyone, and two, I want to assure everyone else that I didn't sneak anything into any of my other profiles. Not that anyone would get into a fight over such a thing, but it can be embarrassing if the GM or another player has to call you out on something.

I don't want to sound impatient or rude, but the longer we sit here talking around in circles, the more likely it is that people are going to lose interest. It might be prudent for us to make a decision about the voting process and start actually putting it into practice.

If we don't change anything on our character profiles, do they have to be re-approved? If they do, then that brings up lots of troubling questions...

Well, if you use the exact same profile from before, I don't see any reason to have to re-approve them. I can't speak for anyone else, but if said profiles were acceptable in the old game, then I think they're perfectly fine to use again.

The only time I could see re-approval coming into play would be if someone where adding something (just like in the old game), or switching to the new profile template (to make sure nobody sneaks in an extra power/weapon without explaining how it got there). I'll most likely be using the new template for all of my own characters, so I'll need to re-submit them for two reasons: one, because I've been meaning to give Jet a basic gun for a while now, and I don't want to just toss it in there without telling anyone, and two, I want to assure everyone else that I didn't sneak anything into any of my other profiles. Not that anyone would get into a fight over such a thing, but it can be embarrassing if the GM or another player has to call you out on something.

What questions did you have in mind, though?

Questions leading off the simple premise of "what if the Council decides that an unaltered, previously approved, and played character is no longer acceptable for play?" I can't think of too many reasons why that would happen, but such a decision on their part is possible.

I don't want to sound impatient or rude, but the longer we sit here talking around in circles, the more likely it is that people are going to lose interest. It might be prudent for us to make a decision about the voting process and start actually putting it into practice.

Sure, public voting sounds good. Are players who want to be on the council allowed to vote for themselves? Not that I would vote myself, I just can't recall if that was something we ever decided.

Also, I had a thought earlier about "secret characters" like Zippy's Makuro knock-off guy. If the character approval process is up to the players themselves, then how will we create characters that are meant as a surprise without totally ruining the effect? This is especially problematic since we're letting normal players run missions where they might want to use a villain or Hero, but not show the profile until they've already had some action. I can remember several characters Fishers made for her missions that were introduced long before she revealed the profile, like Traferous. I must admit, Traferous wouldn't have been quite as mysterious or interesting in Mission 1 if our introduction to him had been his profile.

Will there be maybe 1-3 GMs that we have to talk to to implement characters like this or are secret profiles just completely out of the question from now on?

0

"It doesn't matter how big your first bite is. It matters how many bites you take." -Mool the Wanderer

I think that might be something for the GMs themselves to discuss after they've been chosen. The same would probably apply to things like deciding which locations to keep/abandon, the application process for player-created missions, etc.

I vote public voting system, and I personally don't see any problem with self-voting but maybe that's because I will shamelessly vote for myself whenever the situation allows for it. But that said, if anyone has an issue with self-voting then that's also cool!

As for secret characters, I thought that the co-GM group would check those out. I could be wrong, though.